Just ME, as I Am.

Over the last 6 months or so I’ve been battling an on-going battle with asthma. As I’ve done so, I’ve gotten a chance to make more random friendships, with the type of people you usually don’t get to know very well. Take your local pharmacist as a case in point. Most people only see the pharmacist on occasion, when their really sick, and while they may be able to recognize them, they don’t know them at all. Then there’s the people who regularly gets a prescription refilled. They’re in there once a month. They may have had a few conversations with the pharmacist, but again, they don’t really know them at all.

I love my pharmacy ladies.

As I’ve dealt with all these health problems I’ve “gotten” to try a bunch of different medicines. There were times that I was in the pharmacy with a new prescription every 2 or 3 days! As a result I’ve spent a lot of time talking to my pharmacy ladies. And I love them.

There are 5 people that I’ve seen working in the pharmacy. Two of them have never really talked to me, so I don’t really know anything about them. One of them is a guy, so I suppose he must fall into the category of guys who just don’t talk much. He has been known to listen to me chat with the ladies and laugh at our antics though!

Out of the three ladies I see all the time there are two that I know the best. The third isn’t as talkative, but she always gives me a huge smile. For some reason I haven’t been able to learn her name, so I think of her as Pharmacy lady #3.

Then there’s Dawn. Dawn was the first of the ladies that I made friends with. She is one of the sweetest gals in the world! She learned my name early on in this whole ordeal, and always greats me with a smile and a, “How’s it going today Ruthie?” She has a fantastic smile. She’s listened through this whole ordeal, always curious about what they were trying, and looking like she’d give me a hug if she could reach me over the counter. She’s even been known to snag coupons for me and stick them in her purse until she saw me! I nearly cried the day she did that.

Dawn recently had foot surgery and now I get to ask her how she’s doing. It’s kinda fun change, but I wouldn’t have wished the surgery on her! Last time I saw her (earlier this week) she had dyed her hair a darker shade of brown. I think it looked good, but she thought it was a bit too dark. She flashed me a grin and grabbed a frosting kit and proceeded to tell me that all the ladies were going to have a hair dying party! They were all giggling like school girls about it. I couldn’t help but laugh along.

I thought it was pretty awesome that the other pharmacy lady was going to go along with the hair dying scheme. See, while she has a slightly timeless look about her, I’d guess she has at least 10-15 years on the other ladies. Of course, with a name like hers, who wouldn’t be up for crazy stunts? Her name is Tuesday.

Tuesday is one of the actual pharmacists, the other ladies are the pharmacy techs. She’s always quick to make sure I’m handling everything ok with my meds and to offer me suggestions if I need them. Like Dawn, she notices if it’s been awhile since I’ve been in for more drugs, and she’ll ask if I’m doing better. It’s exciting when I can tell her I am!

Dawn and Tuesday were so sweet when I started the xolair shots. They both winced when I told them that was the latest thing the doc’s were trying and wanted to know how it went!

I’ve considered my pharmacy ladies like my aunt’s here in Ellensburg. They check up on me whenever they see me, they do truly care, and I always feel better after I’ve gotten to chat with them. They’ve lifted my spirits during a black period of my life and for that I will always be grateful.

You know those random people in your life that you end up with some sort of strange, tenuous, connection to even though their only a very minor part of your life? You know, the barrista who knows your order without your asking, the random guy who you see on your way to class every day, or that grocery store employee that you run into all the time? I’ve had a lot of those people in my life over the years. Probably because I’m the type who will talk to you if you look even remotely friendly, and if you happen to be friendly in return, likelihood is we’ll end up having some sort of random conversation!

Well, this post is for those people 🙂

One of the random people in my life right now is known simply as “The Albertsons Guy.” I’m sure he has a real name, but he doesn’t seem to remember to wear his name tag when I think to look for it, and I don’t remember to read it when he is wearing it! Moses and I run in all the time as we run across the street to grab some milk or, like tonight, some chips.

The Albertsons Guy is REALLY friendly. He always says “Hey there kiddo, how are you tonight?” Whenever I come in. I started teasing him about ALWAYS being there because it seems like, no matter when I go in, he’s always there. He told me and Mo that they chain him to a cot in the basement. Next time I saw him (the next night), I said, “Man, they really must chain you up in the basement!” His response? “Yup, right next to the Baby Ruth’s.” I decided not to tell him my name. I came home and told Mo all about it and got a huge grin out of him. I now report any encounters with the Albertsons guy to Mo because we have fun laughing about it!

Mo and I have been going back and forth trying to decide how old the Albertsons guy is, because he always calls me kiddo. Mo’s guess was minimum 26 because that would make him older than me. I was guessing more the 20-23 range. Well, I went across the street for chips tonight because I forgot them when I went shopping this morning, and there he was! So I went up to him and said, “So I have a random question for you.”

“Shoot”

“My husband and I are having a debate, how old are you?”

“I’ll let you guess first.”

“My husband is saying 26, I’m guessing 20-23.”

“Well your husbands closer to right, I’m on the older side, not 26 though, 1 year younger, 25. I’ll be 26 in September.”

“Ah…Mo will be happy he won! He was telling me you had to be older than I am.”

“So how old are you?”

“25, I’ll be 26 in November, so your older! 2months, but he was still right. Have a good night!”

“You too!”

Like I said, I have random conversations with people. I don’t exactly have a ton of inhibitions >_>.
I could tell you many more random stories about random people, but I think I’ll leave those for other days 😀